What Stays and What Fades Away
by ZutaraRightsActivist
Summary: A revelation in the light of day. You can't choose what stays and what fades away. A series of between the scenes looks at Zuko and Katara's changing relationship, with some bits of canon spliced in for context. From The Boiling Rock on.


**Author's Note:** It's been over a decade, and yes, like many others, I'm still mad. Like many others, I still get massive feels from this amazing ship. I am way too old to be writing fic, and haven't since I was a teenager. But this canon needs fixing, and the thousands of Zutara fanfics already in existence, as wonderful as it is, still isn't enough. So here's my contribution. Just a short-ish one-shot amalgamation of between-the-scenes and editorializing of the actual canon. Obviously I borrowed dialogue from the show for those scenes. I hope they aren't too boring because of how much is lifted. I left out a lot of the loose ends with Aang and Mai, but I hoped to gloss over them just enough that the reader would get the point behind what was happening. I was pretty heavily influenced by some classics, most notably Lightning Shocks the Heart by drunkzutarafeels (a blog I miss dearly every day). Also I was listening to "No Light, No Light" by Florence and the Machine a lot, because it's a great Zutara song. Seriously, peep some of these lyrics:

_You want a revelation,_

_You wanna get it right_

_But it's a conversation,_

_I just can't have tonight_

_You want a revelation_

_Some kind of resolution_

_You want a revelation_

_No light, no light in your bright blue eyes_

_I never knew daylight could be so violent_

_A revelation in the light of day_

_You can't choose what stays and what fades away_

_Would you leave me,_

_If I told you what I've done?_

_And would you need me,_

_If I told you what I've become?_

_'Cause it's so easy,_

_To say it to a crowd_

_But it's so hard, my love,_

_To say it to you out loud_

Anyway, this is probably the only Zutara thing I will ever write, at least until the next time I hurt my own feelings with another A:tLA rewatch. Zutara rights! If Zutara doesn't win in the remake it wasn't worth producing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I only wrote this to prove to myself that I'm better than Bryke.

* * *

"I knew the meat excuse was airtight" Sokka said proudly. He closed his eyes, lifted his chin, and wagged his finger at no one in particular, "I'm a simple man with simple needs, and friends who understand me". The rest of the group was huddled around the fire on the stone floor of the Western Air Temple, taking in the adventure as the young water tribe man relayed all of the details. He had just returned triumphant from the Boiling Rock with the first inmates to ever escape from the perilous fortress. Darkness engulfed the rest of the temple, indicating the late hour of their return.

Katara predictably sat next to Hakoda, laughing with the others as Sokka continued to tell the story. She soaked in the feeling of having her father back with them just as she soaked in the warmth from the fire. Her annoyance at Sokka's deception had melted away the moment she saw him exit the airship with their dad. Having Suki back was also great. It had been too long since she had seen the other young warrior woman or had an older girl around the camp, and her presence clearly made Sokka beam even more than he normally would have after such a decisive victory over the Fire Nation.

"Yeah yeah, but when you said you had taken Zuko with you, some of us were on to you," Toph retorted, "You can't fool me."

"There's no way your feet could tell I was lying from that far away!" Sokka exclaimed. He now had half a dumpling spewing from his mouth as he pointed jokingly at the small earthbender. Everyone laughed in response.

"But seriously. I couldn't have done it without Zuko," Sokka continued, swallowing what was left of the dumpling bite and suddenly becoming serious. The firebender was also part of the group, listening to the story he had just been experiencing some hours before. But he was quieter and clearly sat somewhat away from the others, still hesitant to expect acceptance from any of them. Even now an awkward, not-quite-smile glanced across his face as everyone turned their eyes to him.

"Thanks, but-," he barely muttered before Sokka interrupted. "He even became a prisoner, too! One of our escape plans even had him thrown in a freezer" He paused to take another bite of dumpling and put an arm around Suki, changing subjects almost immediately. "Suki was also amazing! She climbed a wall! Just climbed it! A completely flat wall! FWOOSH!" Sokka lifted his arm from Suki to begin making a dramatic gesture, trying to pantomime the way she had scaled the wall of the prison some hours earlier. The auburn-haired girl blushed slightly, but looked proud that her prowess as a martial artist didn't go unnoticed.

Zuko looked relieved to see the attention move away from his direction, although Katara's intense lingering gaze didn't escape his notice. The Boiling Rock hadn't been his first experience with freezing cold. He couldn't help but recall the fierce look she had in her eyes that time at the North Pole when she herself had encased him in ice and snow. He had hoped that helping Sokka might make the waterbender warm to him somewhat, but even as she inched closer to her father, familiar beads of sweat started at his temples. She probably still blamed him for her father being at the Boiling Rock in the first place. It wouldn't be this easy to convince her to trust him. Part of him didn't even know why he was so intent on earning that trust, although his mind produced images of glowing green crystals.

"What was it like there? I wonder if it was anything like the prison ship my dad and I were on," Haru chimed in, mostly looking to Suki and Hakoda. The arctic blast Zuko felt coming from Katara eased as she turned her attention back to the two recent prisoners, both still in their simple red garb. The group quieted a bit. It seemed as though Haru was disappointed that his father hadn't been brought back along with the others. Light from the flames illuminating the space glinted off of Katara's necklace, saturated orange like a setting sun. Zuko's memories also shifted back to that ship and tying that stone gently around his wrist.

"It's a prison in a huge boiling lake. If the guards at the prison ship were cruel, these were twice as bad. The warden ruled with an iron grip. . .at least until I stuffed his own headband in his mouth," Suki said, adding in plenty of sass at the end. Sokka placed a quick kiss into her hair.

"You took on the warden?" Katara asked with a wry smile.

"Well see, the freezer plan didn't work. We were gonna use it as a boat, but then we let Chit Sang and some other prisoners take it instead once I saw that new prisoners were coming in. I had to make sure that Dad wasn't with them," Sokka explained, looking at Hakoda who smiled warmly. "So there was no other way off the island except for a gondola suspended in the air. There was no way we could get on that gondola and expect to make it without taking a hostage - and we needed an important one."

"So we started a riot," Suki joined in, now with just as much enthusiasm for the story as Sokka.

"A riot?! That sounds like, well, a riot!" Toph's comment drew even more smiles and laughs from the group. Even Haru grinned under his moustache.

"It was. Once we had a distraction and a hostage, we made for the gondola," Hakoda had now joined in the storytelling as well. "Like I told Sokka while we were still in that awful place, those Fire Nation guards were no match for two water tribe geniuses."

"But Azula showed up and attacked us, as usual" Sokka continued, "along with those other scary girls she's always with". Sokka stopped for a moment, but then added, "Oh, sorry Zuko, I remember you told me that tall gloomy one was your girlfriend."

Heat rose in Zuko's cheeks and his good eye bulged a bit as the group turned their gaze on him again. He frowned as he looked at the mix of faces. He still had to force down the urge to get mad as he watched the Avatar stifle a giggle.

"The one with the knives? Who didn't even care about her own brother back in Omashu?!" Katara blurted before she could stop herself. She didn't know why she felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her veins upon the news that Zuko and the solemn girl might be involved. The thought of him being with a girl who didn't even feel anything for her own family made her narrow her eyes. In contrast, Zuko's eyes widened even further, and his mouth fell open slightly. What was Katara even talking about? Mai had never really talked about her time in Omashu, let alone her interactions with the Avatar. He didn't know how to respond. Her tone was incredulous, but not as icy as any of her previous words to or about him had been since he had shown up. Her expression showed that she was surprised to have uttered the question, as if she didn't know why she cared. But she recovered quickly, her brows immediately furrowing as she once again scowled at the prince.

Aang, who had been gleefully enjoying the story, studied Katara's face with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised" she grumbled, in a lower tone than before. It reflected the tone she took with Zuko when she had faced him alone in his quarters, making threats to his destiny. Zuko's heart began beating a bit harder than before.

Pairs of eyes darted between the two. Toph silently moved a hand to lay flat on the stone surface beneath her.

"Yeah, but I guess she's not all bad. She actually saved us," Sokka was undeterred in his storytelling. Katara sighed inwardly. "I guess she and Zuko are still in looooovvveee" Sokka drew out and distorted the final word, apparently unwilling or unable to get new jokes. Color gently marked the cheeks of the young airbender and his waterbending sifu at the reference. Things had changed between them significantly since they had been the target of this same gentle ribbing.

Zuko's face was stone. He had been surprised that Mai had saved them, especially since just minutes earlier she had been throwing scrolls at his head, not understanding why he had left her to join the Avatar and save his country.

Katara moved to clean up the bowls the group had used to share their late night snack. "Well, I'm just glad to have you and Dad back," she said, smiling again, "but I think it's time for all of us to get some rest." She picked up the remaining dishware and heard rustling as the others began to get up and stretch.

The Duke, Sokka and Aang yawned, almost in unison, as if Katara's proclamation itself made them tired. Teo's wheels squeaked slightly as he began maneuvering around the others.

Sokka continued to tell the others about his experience even as they all shuffled away to their beds. Finally, he focused again on Zuko. Katara could just make out the last part of their conversation as she and Aang, who had stayed behind to help, began to bend water over the dishes.

"So Zuko, with Mai saving you I guess that means _she_ went to jail. You gonna bust her out once you get back to the Fire Nation just like I did with Suki? I bet she'll find you irresistible once you do!" The water tribe boy gave a series of slaps to the fire prince's back, causing a series of thuds. Katara glanced over her shoulder to see his response to her brother's vigorous friendliness. Zuko looked at his feet, conflicted, and his voice carried a bit more gravel than usual.

"I don't know, Sokka. I have a lot to focus on before I can even think about going back to the Fire Nation."

The line of Katara's lips became completely flat, and she encouraged Aang to help her finish their chore quickly. It had been a long and eventful day.

* * *

What was it about fires lately that made her awkward and angry?

Sokka was once again praising Zuko across a campfire. This time it was for his supposed heroism when Azula attacked them. As quickly as the firebender had helped bring her father back to them, his family had split them apart again. Now, he was sitting next to her brother, joking about how he used to attack them in a similar way as his sister.

"Ha. Ha." she uttered alongside the chuckling of her compatriots, unable to shove the ugly sentiment under her breath.

Her mind raced back to the events of the morning that brought them to this cliffside campground. Azula had shown up with a fleet of airships, sending bombs careening toward them. The roof became unstable. Zuko had latched onto her waist as he hurled himself to the floor to "keep rocks from crushing her". Appa had refused to enter their tunnel escape route. She watched as Zuko and Azula dueled atop one of the airships. She gasped as Zuko went plummeting down after their fists had met in an explosion that sent her ears ringing. Reaching up, up, and up, breath caught in her throat until her hands clasped his forearms, sending him into the safety of Appa's saddle. Watching him watch Azula as they made their escape with Aang and the others.

"I'm touched. I don't deserve this," she heard in a raspy voice, breaking her from her thoughts.

It was too much. Too much praise for this boy who had spent too much time as the enemy.

She sneered.

"Yeah, no kidding." She was on her feet, leaving the warmth of the fire behind her.

Sokka scoffed. "What's with her?"

Zuko rose, facing the stark wind.

"I wish I knew."

Behind him he heard Sokka ask a similar question to a chorus of murmurs.

"What's with him?"

He found her on the cliffside, curls blowing freely around her shoulders as she stared out over the black depths of the ocean, waves kissing the light of the waxing moon. She caught his approach from the corner of her eye. Echoing their pattern of the many months prior, she tried eluding him again, walking further toward the cliffs.

This time, he stopped her.

"This isn't fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?" he raised his voice against the wind and his better judgement.

She turned around, and as her voice swelled Zuko could feel small needles of ocean water prickling his skin.

"Oh, everyone trusts you now? I was the _first_ person to trust you. Back in Ba Sing Se!" She spit the words at him, her face filled with rage. It was the same way she had looked when he first came tumbling toward her in the crystal caverns. Her arm flew backward, finger pointed toward the raging sea behind her. "And you turned around and betrayed me, betrayed all of us!"

He should have known. Echoes of her voice yelling "I thought you had changed!" danced within his ears. He closed his eyes and ground his jaws into each other, knowing he should have caught his tongue between them before he had allowed his impatience - a remnant of his identity as the Fire Nation's crown prince - to escape. He had to try something else to seek the approval of the waterbender.

"What can I do to make it up to you?"

And she told him. _Bring my mother back_.

He felt her make contact with his shoulder, pushing past him. Then she was gone.

He didn't know why, but he cared about what she thought of him. He was the crown prince of the Fire Nation, and even though that part of him had driven her away, maybe it could also bring her back.

* * *

Katara was soaked as she rode through the night on the sky bison's back. They had just left the monster, that man who had killed her mother, in a cowardly, quivering heap. They had escaped the heavy rains as Appa ascended, but her cloak was still laden with water. Normally, she would bend it away, lifting her element directly from the cloth. But in these early morning hours, and after so much had happened since she first saw Zuko waiting outside her tent, she was exhausted. Her strength had finally run out. She closed her eyes and rubbed her tear-stained cheeks.

Next to her, Zuko wanted to shiver, but resisted the impulse. Being this high in the sky and this soggy, he was cold. He closed his eyes and breathed steadily, summoning heat from inside himself. Steam began to waft from his clothing. Katara felt surprisingly warm air on her face. Then she felt hands on her shoulders.

"Wha-?" she started, as she felt heat seeping through the layers of her clothing. Her pulse raced, as if electricity coursed through it. Her cloak began to fill with warmth, and water left the fibers in barely visible clouds that drifted up and away. Her blue eyes snapped back open and met amber ones. They looked away almost as soon as she looked into them.

"I'm sorry," Zuko said, immediately pulling his hands away from her, "I-I just thought you might be cold, and you didn't bend the water. I thought I'd help. I-I'm sorry." He sputtered.

Katara felt more tears, but these weren't sad.

"It's ok," she said, not meeting his gaze as he lifted his head from his shamed downward posture to look back at her once more. She wavered, her vision was blurry despite herself. "Tha. . ." she cleared her throat, "thank you, Zuko."

She spoke in hushed tones, similar to how she had sounded as she had told him more about her mother while Appa carried them toward the hideout of the Southern Raiders. He had considered that earlier softness just a simple moment of weakness in the hard exterior she had maintained since he arrived to join the Avatar. That had been the first glimpse he had gotten of the vulnerable girl he had seen in the green glow of the underground dungeon they once shared since he became the newest addition to their group. This was the second. Hope that he may have finally gained her acceptance leapt into his throat. Maybe now she could see how much he regretted the decision he had made in Ba Sing Se. He had played the scenario over and over in his mind, even after he returned to the Fire Nation.

He became more confident. "Are you warm?" He moved closer. Much closer. She looked up at his scarred face, eyes stinging. Suddenly she recalled the way the ruined skin had felt on her fingertips, and remembered the damaged boy she looked back on as she followed Aang out of her confinement. He had looked at the ground then, too, just like the other night at the Western Air Temple.

"I'm ok," she choked. He placed his palm back on her shoulder and breathed out. As the mist started rising from her again, she was surprised by how comforting the feeling was. Her eyelids felt heavy and she began to give in to them. She felt her tense body relax against his touch and sniffed one last time. It didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep.

Appa groaned as he glided through the thick black sky. Zuko watched the waterbender sleeping next to him, conflicted once again. Images of the prior nights with Katara came to him in waves. He knew she still had yet to process the events herself. And even as he watched her breath leave her slightly open mouth in small puffs of condensation, he still recalled the girl with the long tendrils of black hair who had turned her face to him so intensely as he floated away on a gondola, hanging perilously by a half-cut cord. Carefully, he got up and moved to grasp Appa's reigns. He had another idea.

* * *

Katara awoke to the sounds of waves crashing on a beach. It was still dark, but she could tell this was not the same stretch of ocean she had gazed out over the night she had unleashed her anger on Zuko. She was still in Appa's saddle, but the bison snored beneath her.

She blinked and looked around. She could just barely make out the outline of the fire prince striding along the sandy coast. He was walking toward her and carrying something. As he got closer, she saw it was wood and was somewhat puzzled. Conditions on the beach were much different than they had been in the sky, and a gentle breeze brought mostly warm air through her hair loopies. She watched him as he placed the wood next to a spot in the sand that was already filled with larger rocks. He was setting up the makings of a bonfire.

She carefully slipped off of the sleeping bison and made her way toward the fire prince. He looked up as she approached, a shadow of a smile on his lips. She looked like she finally got the rest she needed, and he was glad for it.

"You're making a fire?" She was the first to end the silence. A matter-of-fact question seemed appropriate. "Yes," he responded, continuing to place the kindling he had gathered. He matched her matter-of-fact tone perfectly, but his pleasant face didn't change. She sat down in the sand next to him, but not too close - not like earlier in the night.

"Why? It's not like when we were flying. It's pretty warm here, and the moon is still pretty full," she asked. Before he responded, he lit a small flame in the palm of his hand. It illuminated the crevices of his face and cast a reflection in his amber eyes. He carefully traced a wisp of it into the heart of the wooden structure he had built, and the bonfire ignited.

"I was here before. After- I mean," he paused, grasping at the bridge of his nose. "I was here before I joined you and Aang and the others. After I betrayed you," his voice darkened at the last part of his explanation. She stiffened, her eyes searching his now fully illuminated face.

"It was me, Ty Lee, Azula. . .and Mai" he continued, trailing off a bit on the last name. "We built a bonfire like this, and it helped me. . .figure some things out."

She looked at him quizzically, so he pressed on.

"I thought it might help you, too. To. . .process."

She nodded at him, gratitude marking her features. She turned her gaze from his face to the bonfire, and then up to the waning moon. He settled in against a log next to her. They sat in silence. As Katara studied the surface of the moon, flashbacks from her journey to confront her mother's killer surfaced in her mind. The ice raft she and Zuko rode to the deck of the ship. Blasting the door to the navigation chamber open with what seemed like all of the tears she had ever cried for her loss. Zuko jumping in front of her to block the inevitable blasts of fire from the ship's captain. Capturing that same man's blood, and bending it to her will.

She snapped out of it.

"You saw me," she gasped the words suddenly, eyes wide. She hadn't made the connection while they were still on their mission. She turned to him and saw his good eyebrow curved up in a way that signalled confusion.

"You saw me bloodbend," she quietly clarified, becoming very aware of her heartbeat.

"I didn't know you could do that," he stated plainly. She seemed upset by her skill. He wanted her to know he wasn't afraid or horrified. He accepted that her anger sometimes made her do things she normally wouldn't. He understood what that was like.

"Only on a full moon. I learned it from another southern waterbender I met in the Fire Nation," Katara felt herself explaining, but Zuko could tell that wasn't the whole story.

"She had discovered that she could bend the water in people's blood after being in a Fire Nation prison. She was using it to lock people underneath a mountain, just like she had been locked up," the words came tumbling out of the water tribe girl. She wasn't even sure why she was going into so much detail, just like when she had explained what happened to her mother to Zuko.

"I had told myself I would never use it," there was sorrow in her voice. She wrapped her arms around her legs. "What have I let myself become?" She whispered, throwing her face down into the cocoon she had just made of her body. A familiar stinging was in her eyes.

"Katara-" Zuko tried to say her name authoritatively, with the same muster he might have had when speaking to a member of his prior ship crew, but it didn't come out quite like that. The syllables broke a bit in his mouth.

"You're nothing like the man who took your mother from you," his voice had recovered, and it was deep and steady as he made his statement. Her head was still in her arms. Finally, she lifted it, and her eyes met his. Tears were falling down her cheek, just like they had been in the cave. But this time, he was close enough to touch her.

Still hesitant, Zuko raised a hand and brought it gently to her face. His thumb brushed lightly against her top lip on its way to her cheek, where he brushed away salt water. His fingers curled around and laid gently at the lobe of her ear. Her face became hot and her heart leapt as if being shocked.

Her breathing let him know how unexpected his tenderness was, but her ceased crying indicated it was welcome. She had no intention of making Zuko remove his touch from her face. She was reaching up to place her hand on his when he removed it anyway. He turned away from her, looking flushed. Now she could only see him in profile, the face of the prince of the Fire Nation staring into the hot colors of the bonfire.

"This is Ember Island," he said, "When I came here last time, my sister's advisors were with us. They told us that Ember Island is a magic place, that it can help you find out who you are. It can reveal the true you."

He looked deep in thought, but she heard his rough voice tumble out again, soft and low. "It's important to me that you know who you are. I wouldn't be who I am right now without you."

He said the words as he realized them. It was then that any prior images he held of Mai in his mind washed away with the high tide. He had wished for Ember Island's magic for Katara, but it had worked on him. His chest felt tight. He realized that the mission they had just accomplished had just as big an impact on him as it might have on her. The flames he faced flickered and grew brighter.

"Well, and Uncle," he added, trying to avoid the awkwardness that had settled in the space. Silence hung between them, mingling with the smoke from the bonfire.

"This is a nice beach," Katara said, trying to change the subject. The fire crackled, and she watched sparks flutter in the night breeze.

"Yeah", Zuko replied, finally looking back at her. He reached over to pick up a bundle of blankets. He handed it to the waterbender, then reached back for the second bundle.

"I think I'm going to get some sleep. Tomorrow I'll go pick up the others and bring them here, too. It will be a good place for us to stay while we finish Aang's training," the prince began unrolling his makeshift bed next to the fire. "You can stay here if you like, if you want some time alone."

Katara nodded, but didn't unfurl her own bedroll. She intended to stay up a bit longer next to the fire, under Yue's light. Zuko's mention of Aang was the first she had thought of the young Avatar since she had taken her "field trip" with her former enemy. She still had some additional thinking to do - about a number of things.

As Zuko laid his head down and turned over, facing away from the waterbender, he heard her voice one more time. It was quiet and weak, as though it wasn't meant for him.

"I. . .I don't think you're anything like the man who took your mother from you, either."

* * *

It wasn't quite the same as a bed, but it would do. Appa's generous paws were fluffy enough to provide the tired young fighters some semblance of comfort. It hadn't taken Sokka long to stretch out on the bison's tail. Suki tucked herself beside him. Toph preferred the ground.

It had been a long journey following June and Nyla through the earth kingdom, only to arrive back in Ba Sing Se. Zuko sighed. He was back in the city where his personal transformation from banished prince to determined traitor had really started in earnest. And still so much more had happened since he had shared an apartment here with his uncle, humbly serving tea. He followed Sokka's lead, laying back on one of Appa's paws. He was surprised when Katara flopped onto the paw adjacent to the one he had already claimed. It was such a casual interaction. The change in their relationship was evident in her body language. Zuko thought of the embrace they had shared on the dock of Ember Island, the look in her eyes when she told him she had finally forgiven him.

Water and fire shared a glance. Zuko thought he may have seen Katara's lips curved up into a small smile. He didn't know how she could be smiling at a time like this.

"Aang is going to come back," she said to him suddenly, sensing his anxiety.

"I hope so," Zuko replied.

A familiar awkward silence began. Katara was left to ruminate on one of the last moments she spent with the young airbender, during the intermission of the play the group attended about their journey to defeat the Fire Lord. Then, she remembered something Zuko had said about the island and how it revealed the truth about oneself. She hoped he didn't notice her quickly turning her neck from side to side, trying to shake the thoughts from her head. They were at the precipice of the final battle. This wasn't the appropriate time to think of these things.

"I'm ready to do whatever it takes to stop my father," Zuko's rasp broke the silence. His voice was low to avoid disturbing the others. He was still laying on Appa's paw, facing her intently.

"I know,'' she said, positioning her body so she was also laying down. She turned her whole body to face his and used her arm to prop up her head. They both listened to the night sounds around them. She carefully considered the firebender in front of her. There was no trace of the same boy that she had fought, escaped from, and hated. Now they struggled together.

"The last time we were here-" Zuko began his sentence, but trailed off. "I just. . .I'm sorry. I thought I should say it. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad now if I hadn't made the choice I did then."

"Zuko?" Katara said his name as a whispered question, seeming to ignore his apology. "How. . ." She steadied herself for her own inquiry, ". . .how did you get that scar?" She thought she might know already. Before, underneath the ground of the city they were resting just outside of, he had shared some key information. "The mark of the banished prince" was how he had described it. But Katara was sure there was more to the story, and since she was learning so many new things about the firebender, she pressed her luck to ask this personal question.

Even in the darkness of the starlight, Katara could see Zuko's face contort with surprise. He didn't answer right away. Katara waited patiently even as her features became more concerned and embarrassed. Her fingers fiddled with Appa's fur.

"An Agni Kai," he finally responded. "I spoke against one of my father's generals in the war room.

"You fought a duel with one of your father's generals?" The waterbender pressed further.

"No," Zuko said, "it was my father I had disrespected. He was the one I had to face. But instead I fell to my knees and begged for his forgiveness. Instead I got this." Zuko described the act flatly, but put his fingers on the scarred side of his face.

"Your dad. . ." Katara trailed off, "he burned your face. He did it." She had known, but to have him say it made her heart sink into her stomach.

"Yeah."

The water tribe girl burrowed deeper into her sky bison bed.

"I'm sorry," she offered. She realized now what had actually been interrupted when she had initially been faced with the fire prince in this now ruined city, her offer to heal his scar with the spirit water hanging between them. Zuko could feel discomfort emanating from the girl next to him.

"It's ok. If it hadn't been for that day, I wouldn't have made it here," he said. "And even though I'm laying on a bison's foot with only a smelly sandal to go on for help with ending this war, I know this is where I should be." He looked at her as he finished his statement. His eyes were soft, glinting gold even in the surrounding darkness. Katara couldn't help but grin and let out a light chuckle as she realized that this was Zuko's attempt at humor. It seemed making each other laugh was something they did now.

Her smile faded, but the warmth didn't leave here face. "Thank you for telling me" she reached a hand out and placed it on the paw Zuko occupied, close to where the fire prince laid but not quite touching him.

Zuko just nodded. "I think we should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.

"A once in a lifetime event!" Katara tried her hand at humor, letting her mouth hang open in a goofy expression. Zuko's good eyebrow perked up and he let out a cough of a laugh.

"Goodnight Katara," he said softly. She watched his eyes close.

"Goodnight," she returned, and turned to face the other direction. Even as she fell asleep, she could still feel her lips curled in a small smile.

* * *

Aang was still missing. The rest of the group was used to this behavior from him, but Zuko had to work at containing his concern. The comet was coming, and there was no way to stop his father without the Avatar. That may be why his words slipped as he urged his uncle to come with them for the final confrontation.

"Don't you mean the fire lord?" Toph asked. Zuko got defensive, realizing his mistake. "That's what I just _said_," he replied, raising his voice forcefully. He had admitted to enough mistakes lately.

All of the remaining members of Team Avatar were sitting in a circle around the Grandmaster of the White Lotus. The only thing missing was a campfire.

"We need you to come with us," the prince appealed to Iroh again. The older man shook his head.

"No, Zuko. It won't turn out well," he said, in the sagely voice the younger firebender couldn't reproduce.

"You can beat him!" Zuko started as he turned to the rest of his group - Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Katara. "And we'll be there to help."

Iroh was slow to speak again. "Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don't know that I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as just more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the firelord."

Zuko considered his uncle's wisdom.

"And then you would come take your rightful place on the throne?" he asked hopefully.

"No," his uncle began, "Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko."

Zuko looked at the grass beneath him. "Unquestionable honor? But I've made so many mistakes" now his gaze was directed at the waterbender across from him. He didn't linger there long, as his uncle began speaking again.

"You restored your own honor, and only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation," Iroh finished. Weakly, Zuko responded, "I'll try, Uncle."

"Zuko, you must return to the Fire Nation, so that when the Fire Lord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order," Iroh stated, "but Azula will be there, waiting for you."

The younger firebender narrowed his eyes at the mention of his sister. "I can handle Azula," he said with more confidence than even he thought possible, but his uncle cut him off.

"Not alone. You'll need help."

Zuko paused briefly, although he already knew who his choice would be, and he knew it was a selfish one. He considered the face of the waterbender who just a few hours ago had knelt at his side as he hesitated at the door to his uncle's tent. The encouragement in her eyes as she helped him face one of the things he had been most apprehensive about ever since he had faced his father on the Day of Black Sun. The moments they had shared on Ember Island. The embarrassment in their interactions with June. Watching her fall asleep on Appa's paw next to him. Even that awful play popped into his head.

"Katara," her name felt perfect on his tongue, "How would you like to help me put Azula in her place?"

His hope caught in his throat, and he was surprised when he didn't have to wait long for a response.

"It would be my pleasure," she said, in the same wry style she had when her confidence was as full as her water skeins. For the first time, Zuko imagined himself surviving this battle. He didn't notice his uncle's slight smile.

* * *

Katara had only felt heat like this one other time, when a volcano had sent lava spilling toward Aunt Wu's village. Sozin's comet cast an eerie glow over the sky, just like the temper of the mountain she had battled with the rest of the villagers. The young warrior felt sweat dripping from her hairline. It seemed to her that the fire being produced in the courtyard of the palace was enough to melt the entire South Pole. She watched intently as Zuko defended against the blasts of blue fire that came his way, generating walls of his own bright orange flame. She saw him split blue fire in two with his palms, and faint echoes of the fortune-teller's voice played in her head.

She had come to the Fire Nation palace to help Zuko wrest it from Azula's claws, but the manipulative would-be Fire Lord had been successful in breaking them up instead.

"Agni Kai!" Azula's voice reverberated against the columns of the courtyard. Katara understood the importance of this declaration to the boy standing next to her. Even so, shock colored her features when she heard him growl.

"You're on."

Zuko shot a blast of fire at Azula, who was now propelling herself across their makeshift battlefield by streams of blue fire emanating from her feet and knuckles.

"She's slipping" Zuko's words came back to her, but the ferocity of the battle dampened Katara's confidence in the young prince's assessment. She was caught off guard as she witnessed a ring of fire Zuko had generated by spinning on his back and swiftly kicking his legs make contact with his sister, sending her tumbling to the ground, rolling pathetically in the dirt.

The success made Zuko cocky. He assumed the proud stance of the royalty he was.

"No lightning today?" He mocked the other firebender, "what's the matter? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko changed stances as he taunted his opponent.

Azula summoned up all of her aggression almost into a screech. "Oh I'll show you _lightning_". Her fingers circled in front of her body as Zuko steadied himself.

Katara had a bad feeling about this. She stepped out from underneath the burning roof of the palace halls, just barely placing her feet onto the grounds of the courtyard.

A ball of lightning had formed in front of Azula. Zuko watched her intently, trying to steady his breath to get ready to properly redirect her attack. That's when he noticed the movement of her eyes and the shift in her stance. His breathing stopped, and as the lightning veered to his right side, he briefly turned to see it's target, but he already knew.

Katara.

Somehow Azula always knew how to destroy him.

His feet thundered against the hard surface beneath him. He heard his own voice bellowing as he reached out his hand to meet the electricity crackling toward the waterbender.

"No!"

Katara may as well have been hit with the lightning for how it paralyzed her feet to the stone beneath her. She watched Zuko take the sizzling blue light into his fingers. She felt her breath leaving her body in heaves as she recalled his return from the Boiling Rock with her brother and father, the way he had looked at her across the fire as Sokka recounted the story. She watched as he was lifted from the ground by the energy flowing through his body. "Are you warm?" She heard his voice echo between her ears as she recalled the feeling of his hands on her damp cold shoulders, steam drifting between them. She watched as he made impact with the ground., the lightning cracking the sky as it left his arm. She saw his profile in the Ember Island firelight, watched his lips move. "It's important to me that you know who you are". She watched him crumple into a ball as electricity surged through him, cracking the sky as it exited his arm. She heard his small, quiet chuckle at her weak joke emanating from pillowy white fur.

She watched Zuko clutch his chest and was snapped into action. She covered her hands in water and started running. The flashes in her mind had been a lightning bolt to her own heart, and now she knew she couldn't lose him. Her vision was blurry. She couldn't lose-

"Zuko!" she cried out his name, her voice bordering on a shriek.

A blast of lightning cut off her path. Azula's unhinged laughter filled her ears.

"And you're going down" Katara recalled her own words to Azula when she and Zuko had first arrived to take the crown from her. They had never been truer than this moment. Katara's features hardened, and she ignored the other girl's taunts as she lifted water from the troughs lining the courtyard. She summoned as much strength as she could muster to send her element blasting at Azula.

It was no use. Azula kept blasting fire and lightning at her. Katara dodged them, but she became stuck behind a column. She glimpsed Zuko's limp body in the courtyard and knew she didn't have much time. She peeked out from her hiding place and lifted a tidal wave to splash Azula off the roof she was firing from. Instead she felt the heat from the firebender's flames right next to her, and ran to avoid additional attacks. She froze the water below her, sliding swiftly to avoid more flames. As she ran, she tripped. Then she saw her solution.

"There you are, filthy peasant."

Katara whipped water at Azula, sidestepping her attacks until she engulfed both of them in ice. She let out a breath and calmly laced the chains around the princess's delicate wrists. She pressed down with her hands, sending the water back to its place under the grate below them.

Katara left Azula struggling against the metal, screaming and sobbing. She was already on her way to Zuko.

She turned him over gingerly. The front of his shirt was burned, the ends black and gnarled. She brought the water over the angry red wound and felt for his life force, pulling it back like the moon pulling at the ocean. Tears fell hot on her face as the water began to glow a bright blue. She searched his face for signs of consciousness. His jaw clenched. Good enough. Her tears flowed freely.

"Thank you, Katara," she heard a familiar rasp, a whisper in how weak it was. Salt water dripped from her chin. The relief in his barely open eyes was evident.

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you," she forced the words out, swallowing her sobs. She took his hand and forearm in hers and lifted him to a sitting position. He fell back slightly on his elbows, but she caught him. The palace continued to burn behind them, but Zuko focused solely on Katara. She noticed him searching her for injuries, as if he hadn't just barely recovered from his own life threatening one.

"I'm fine," she assured him, squeezing his elbow where she held him up. He tried to lift himself to sit up higher, so she helped him with the motion. As the waterbender continued to crouch over him, she finally registered the closeness of their faces.

She saw the movement of his arm as he reached up. Once again his fingers grazed over tear stains, tracing over her cheekbones and settling into her hair. Before she could think, her body reacted. His eyes widened as she quickly grabbed his hand in hers, pulling it away from her face. Her other hand left his elbow to rest firmly on the back of his neck.

She brought her lips to his. Zuko's heart beat wildly, almost as if he were channeling the lightning again. His eyelids dropped as he pulled her closer to him, reveling in the taste of this surprise. She clutched his stolen hand in hers and squeezed.

Katara quickly broke away from the kiss, and Zuko noticed her eyelashes fluttering and a dusting of pink on her cheeks. Speech evaded him. He wanted to let her know how much her lips had meant to him. He delicately lifted her chin and lightly placed his lips on hers again. When she looked at him the next time, he saw a glittering ocean against a burnt sky. They focused on one another for a moment, both hiding smiles and skipped heartbeats.

Then, Katara pulled the prince - the new Fire Lord - to his feet. She kept a hand on his back to support his weight as they both gazed over his sister, tethered and defeated. Zuko watched Azula as she thrashed her entire body trying to resist her confinement. They heard the sound of footsteps as a group of palace guards appeared behind the struggling girl.

"Take her," Zuko said, a new sadness in his voice. As the royal guard led Azula away, Katara lifted Zuko's arm and put it around her shoulder.

Together, they made their way into the great halls of the Fire Nation palace.


End file.
